


Of Penguins And Grindr

by westminster



Category: Supernatural
Genre: (if you squint a bit), Destiel - Freeform, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Pining Sam, Sabriel - Freeform, but not really, lots of sweetness, sam uses grindr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-24 01:32:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13800555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westminster/pseuds/westminster
Summary: "Grindr - yeah, it's an app, y'know for phones, Cas, buddy? It's... err- for gay guys to find out where other gay guys are."Cas nods, the sign that he understands imbuing a sense of relief in Gabriel. However, that hope is shattered when he smiles widely and says, deadly serious, "why would Sam think you needed a homosexual GPS?"-or, Sam's longing for Gabe results in him snapping at Cas. So, naturally, Gabe puts him on Grindr.





	Of Penguins And Grindr

**Author's Note:**

> warning: this work contains the overuse of italics because I'm an addict who cannot be stopped.
> 
> I had to actually download Grindr to do 'research' for this fic so please feel my pain. It was an experience to say the least.

For their past few cases, Castiel had called shotgun. Dean had responded to this change with an unusual level of acquiescence and a compliant Dean was worth Sam being forced in the back with Gabriel. Gabe had also joined the boys without an explanation and showed no signs of leaving. 

At first, it had nearly killed Sam. The constantly hyper-active literal 5-year-old masked as an angel, Gabriel, would  _ not _ leave him alone. Sure, he could manage the squeals of 'what's up, buttercup?', the way Gabe did not understand the meaning of personal space and his penchant for ruffling Sam's hair every couple of hours. However, their journeys were regularly days long, travelling to various states for vague hunts that too often ended up not being hunts because  _ somebody  _ was far  too eager to murder things.

This road trip, however, is different. Over the past few weeks, Sam has noticed himself becoming more acclimatized to Gabe's behaviour: his quirks and mannerisms no longer phased him, in fact, the familiarity they provided in an ever-changing career like this one gave Sam a sense of belonging. Sam also finds himself becoming accustomed to Gabe's constant need to touch him. The back of the impala was wide enough to fit around three and a half Sams in them (he's measured), yet the angel chooses to sit out the long car journeys with their thighs touching: practically rubbing together. He does this defiantly, purposefully ignoring Sam's protests and attempts to move away. There was that time, Sam remembers not too earnestly, that Gabe was sucking on a lollipop upon entering the impala, and in response to Sam making a face of repulsion. Gabe quickly shoved the lollipop in Sam's mouth. That incident resulted in Sam cleaning out sticky lollipop stains on the floor of the impala for so long that he can still smell hints of bleach and cherry on his blue flannel shirt. 

As the months wear on, Sam's shocked to find himself careening into Gabriel's unconscious touches, anticipating and maybe even craving the moments when he pokes and prods Sam, his breathe hitching slightly when Gabriel devours liquorish laces deliberately erotically just to make Sam uncomfortable. It's when Sam laughs so hard that tears form in the corner of his eyes at one of Gabe's stupid dad puns that he knows that he really fucked.  _ He is definitely not falling in love with an archangel. _

Sam finally accepted this unexpected development in his love life at exactly 6:31pm, in the kitchen of a dead man’s house. The dead men in question was pretty irrelevant. Mauled by a rugaru, probably. However, whilst Sam leaned over the kitchen counters, scribbling furiously at his notepad, Gabe came up and slapped  _ (slapped!) _ his ass. Sam attempted to hide a small squeal that had escaped his lips with a grunt, shaking his head dismissively at the other man, trying to ignore the excitement in his lower region. Gabe merely grinned at Sam, parting those sinfully delightful lips slightly. Sam was only inches away from him, becoming ever more conscious of the absence of space, thinking -  _ hoping _ \- that one of them would suddenly find the courage to lean in and close that inexplicably tiny gap.  _ Holy shit, Sam had fallen in love with an archangel. _

Gabriel was like Phillip's penguins. 

In third grade, Phillip Hawkins had ran up to Sam, grabbed his face and shook it, shrieking, "don't think of penguins!" Now, most children would try it for a few minutes, marvelling at it's impossibility and then moved on to the next thing that took their interest but he was different. He was Sam Winchester, for Christ's sake! A straight A student despite having changed schools three times already this year and there was  _ nothing _ he couldn't do. Sam spent days after working himself up into a state of near-tears, haunted by the constant presence of marching penguins.

Although he could safely say that Gabriel was far, far prettier than a penguin, Sam couldn't stop thinking about him. Which was a bigger problem with Gabe compared to Sam's past crushes because he just had to be a fucking archangel, which means that he can hear Sam's thoughts; every single dirty fantasy, every one of his unsolvable urges. 

Sam tries to carry on like everything's normal. Like he's not experienced this sexual revelation, this stupid awakening, this god damn homosexual declaration. And it nearly drives him into an early grave. No matter how hard he tries to sit in the front of the impala, away from Gabe and Gabe's eyes and hair and nose and  _ scent, _ Cas nearly always beats him, and when he doesn't Dean kicks up enough of a fuss for Sam to move into the back limply. But Gabe carries on: of course he does. And Sam tries to block it out.  _ Tries.  _ When Gabe does something that sparks his deeply feared arousal, he attempts to make the penguins dominate his thoughts once again. When Gabe pats his thigh,  _ penguins penguins penguins. _ When Gabe latches on to his arm during a hunt,  _ penguins penguins penguins.  _ When Gabe rests his head on Sam's lap during Sam's hopeless endeavour to peacefully read,  _ penguins penguins penguins. _

_ Penguins, penguins, penguins, _

_ penguins penguins, penguins. _

Sam quickly realises that this tactic isn't working the moment they arrived at a local hotel that Sam had sourced. It's rather fancy and totally out of their budget but the case they're investigating is in a rather affluent neighborhood - there wasn't a motel in miles. When they had located their room, Gabriel joked about the journey to the hotel being  _ long _ and  _ hard, _ deliberately staring languidly at Sam. Sam stared straight back at him, clearly uttering, "penguins." After Gabe questioned this random outburst, Sam couldn't find a definitive answer, mumbling something about being lost in thought. Now, he chooses to practically run to the nearby en suite, gripping the sides of the sink harshly. This isn't working... this most definitely isn't working. Looking at himself in the crappy mirror, Sam decided there was no other viable option but to ignore Gabriel completely. How hard could it be?

It started the next morning, when the boys were ready to interview some witnesses they'd located regarding the case. A student had gone missing, leaving a host of archaic symbols painted in bright red on her dorm room wall and Dean wanted to speak to her roommate. It was an unspoken rule at this point, that Cas and Gabe would accompany them on their visit. However, when Dean entered Sam's room in the morning to let him know they were leaving in five, Sam made up a flimsy excuse that he was making a breakthrough with the symbols, and couldn't go with them. After a few raised eyebrows and questioning glares from Dean, he finally conceded it and left to join the others. 

They return and Gabe heads straight for Sam, elbowing him jovially. 

"Oi, Samsquatch! Why did you leave little ol' Gabe alone with those two lovebirds? I missed you Sammy, I really did."

Sam only nods in response, resuming his frantic typing, the words on the screen, a blur to the angel. Gabe, who was never going to be happy with that response, grabs onto Sam's cheeks, making sure that their heads were so close together that their noses rubbed.

"Hell-ooo? Is Sam in there? I nee-"

Abruptly, Sam shakily moves Gabe's hands away, depositing them by his side. He rises from his seat clumsily, breaths becoming rapid and shallower, telling Gabe that he needed to go to the shop, that they were running out of beer and if Gabe wanted anything, not really listening to his response. All Gabe could do was stare after him, trying and failing to tune into Sam's thoughts. 

Sam flees through corridor after corridor, attempting to get out, but instead running face first into a wandering Castiel.

"Are you okay, Sam? You look a little, err- flustered?" 

Sam responds by gawping at Cas, trying - and failing - to find a viable excuse. Instead, he gives the angel a curt nod, pressing his lips together harshly. After an excruciating ten seconds of direct eye contact, with Castiel scanning through everything he's learned on earth to come up with way to approach this. In the end, Cas reverts back to the topic that currently concerned him, asking Sam if he knew of Gabriel's whereabouts.

Sam knows that he should just tell Cas where Gabe is. To then leave it and walk away, go to the shop or perhaps get black-out drunk. But he can't help himself. He knew that this would never be easy, that it could never be easy. Maybe that's why he says it or maybe it's a way for him to let all his frustration and sexual tension out. Either way, he doesn't fully know what he's doing when he turns around to Cas.

"Gabriel's in my room, because of- _fucking_ -course he's in my room. You know what, Cas? Maybe you should ask him about that, huh? Ask him why he's always in my personal space, how he always  _ has _ to touch me, to be near me, to- to... I don't know, ok! If that's how he feels then he should download fucking angel grindr."

He knew that Cas would inevitably understand none of that, but he definitely wasn't going to stick around to explain any of it. Before Cas had even had a chance to process Sam's outburst fully, Sam was already half way down the corridor, practically running out of the motel.  _ Out, out, out... penguins, penguins, penguins. _

_ - _

When most angels enter a room, you can feel it. Everyone can feel it. It's not exactly painful, like a cut or a graze, but their presence fills you up; completely captures you and doesn't let you go until you confront it. Castiel is not one of those angels. Which is also why Gabe doesn't have the slightest hint when Cas appears next to him, whilst he's lying on Sam's bed, a vindictive glare fixed on his face. 

"Gabriel... what is a 'grinder'?" He says, using air quotes around the word Grindr, a technique that Dean helped him master.

Gabe nearly chokes. 

"Well, Castiel,  _ dearest _ ... this is an  _ unexpected _ way to come out to your oldest pal."

Cas stares at him blankly, tilting his head slightly, mimicking the appearance of a confused cocker spaniel. He tries to construct a reply of sorts a few times, beginning a sentence but falling at the first word. Gabe just chuckles, grabbing his phone from his back pocket in the process, and waves it vigorously in the air.

"Grindr - yeah, it's an app, y'know for phones, Cas, buddy? It's... err- for gay guys to find out where other gay guys are."

Cas nods, the sign that he understands imbuing a sense of relief in Gabriel. However, that hope is shattered when he smiles widely and says, deadly serious, "why would Sam think you needed a homosexual GPS?" 

That was the second time in five minutes that Gabe was left well and truly speechless. After Cas had explained the grim details of the incident, Gabe very quickly went from confused to pretty damn pissed. Castiel couldn't really follow the thread of the long rant that followed, picking up little bits of it when Gabe would ever so often stop his pacing to turn and face Cas.

"how dare he..."

"...I mean, the freaking nerve of it."

"Cas, c'mon, I'm not being unreasonable here, am I?"

"What right does he have to fucking stride in and..."

"fucking hate him, fucking... fuck, fuck, fuck..."

"Sam Winchester you absolute..."

"You know what? I'm putting his stupid ass on Grindr, see how he likes it!"

That last line is delivered with such force and clarity, that it causes Cas to actual pay attention, instead of standing in the middle of a hotel room in god-knows-where, eyebrows furrowed so hard that it would cause an aching migraine in a normal human. 

Gabe motions for Cas to sit on the bed beside him, and silently watches as Gabe downloads the app. There was an uncomfortable silence of sorts, leading Castiel to study the hotel wallpaper in depth, committing the dull, swirling patterns to memory. That is why the angel is so utterly shocked by Gabriel's sudden shout that he robotically starts to reach for his angel blade, halting when he realises his mistake.

"There's one 15 yards away!" 

"A homosexual?"

Gabe grins, and forces Cas into helping him track down the mysterious Grindr profile. Before they started their 'queer quest' (labelled by Gabe, of course), Gabe opens the profile he has meticulously created for Sam. A raised eyebrow from Castiel and a condensing asking of where Gabriel had so easily sourced pictures of Sam followed, only being answered with a knowing wink. 

The nearest profile, and the one in question, was a guy named "Martin", it has no pictures or bio attached, shrouding it in secrecy. The whole thing makes Gabe a little nervous - who the hell makes a Grindr account and doesn't even include their age? That wasn't going to deter him though, he had become quite passionate about this little hunt, he didn't really know why, or what he'll do when he finds this man.

It's just something else to distract him from the Sam-Gabe situation. Yeah, Gabe knows that he should talk to Sam, to try and hear his thoughts clearer without being distract by Sam's unexplainable constant thoughts of penguins. But that wouldn't be him. Because he's learned that angels can't afford to do the whole 'feelings' thing. Cas hasn't registered that though, or if he did he's disregarded it for the affection of Dean Winchester. So, he pushes all that down. Replaces it with terrible puns and a blatant dismissal for propriety. Focuses on the insignificant and says a grand  _ 'fuck you' _ to the significant. Besides, he has the elusive 'Martin' to find.

It takes a lot of weaving through corridors, staring too hard at his phone, tripping over nothing and faint screams of vague distances. Cas follows obediently, questioning Gabriel's actions at first, until he accepts that Gabe is too determined to stop now. The number of yards became smaller and smaller, and Cas registers that the closer they get, the more Gabe's heart rate increases. 

_ 5 yards, 4 yards, 3 yards, 2 yards.... _

They step out of the hotel, into the small lawn outside, Gabriel trying hard to suppress excited squeals. He was furiously tapping on his phone screen, clearing and refreshing things, never once taking his eyes off the screen. 

"Cas, I think there's a fault. It says '0 yards away' but... Cas? Cas?"

Cas' silence causes Gabe to look up and into the eyes of Sam Winchester, phone held out intolerably.

Gabe screams.

Cas disappears.

Sam gulps.

They stand there in a silence that says more than it doesn't, Sam's thoughts remaining uninterpretable to Gabe. All he could hear was a loud hazey drumming, like a radio frantically searching for a station, for a connection to the real world. Gabe fought hard to regain control of his mouth. When he did, all he could splutter out was a choked, "Martin?!" 

Sam fidgets nervously, constantly transferring his weight from one leg to the other, cheeks growing painfully red. He motions to a nearby bench, secluded by numerous trees and hedges. They sit, an amicable distance apart but both looking straight ahead. It is Sam who decides to speak.

"At first it was for a case. We suspected that a lone werewolf was using it to locate prey. He had a, umm... _specific taste_ , you might say. That's where Martin came in - not much creativity was required there, Martin was the name of the FBI agent who I was impersonating at the time. We found the werewolf pretty quickly. Not quickly enough, though, and by then I was hooked, in a way. I never met up with anyone, ignored all the messages I received but I, I don't know, I guess I just liked to know I wasn't the only one. The only.. th- the only..."

"...I get it."

For once, Gabe had taken an empathetic tone. Sam's broken words had hit him like gunfire, every word making Gabriel _feel -_ Gabriel, who as a rule, did _not_ feel. But Gabe had decided that today was a day for first, for confidence and for admittance. And with that, Gabriel's hand moves ever so slightly until it completely encompassed Sam's. He grabs the other man's limp hand tenderly, rubbing small circles him palm to distract from all this, to distract from everything.

In the end, it is Sam who, so affected by Gabe's show of emotions, makes the move. He had turned his head to find Gabe looking directly at him, his stare practically burning through Sam's cheeks. Once he had become accustomed to the proximity he was to the other man's face, he refuses to stop the longing and succumbs to it's power, studying the shape of Gabe's lips before taking them for himself.

They register each other's mouths, Sam cataloguing the sweetness, the stickiness, the strawberry and the raspberry. In turn, Gabriel clutches at Sam's chin, feeling and grasping then licking at the exposed skin. When they break off for air, panting against the other's forehead, the realization slowly sets in. Sam is the first to speak.

"We just... made out like teenagers outside a hotel, where literally anyone can see. Oh my  _ god _ ." 

Gabe stands up, hauling Sam's huge moose body up with him, mumbling something about the joys of having a hotel room and leads him, fingers still entwined, back into the hotel, both of them giggling like 15 year old girls. 

Gabriel's touch had eradicated every single one of Sam's penguins.

 

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr/send me prompts: @mandelsons


End file.
